Do you know your airline passenger rights? Let’s say you’ve just made it to the airport on time for your morning flight to Paris. You’re even dressed like it’s the Golden Age of travel, as you’ve planned your journey to make it just in time to catch a drink at the George V for a pre-dinner drink. But then the gate agent announces that your flight is overbooked. You, one of the last passengers to purchase a ticket, won’t be able to get on the flight. The best the airline can do is to put you on the next available flight in four hours. And just like that, your Friday night plans are cancelled, and it wasn’t your fault. Do you grin and bear it? Well, the key is to be familiar with airline passenger rights.
Know the Rules
Instead of moping at the bar in the international terminal, use your frequent-flyer know-how to make the situation beneficial to you. Your airline passenger rights fall under what’s called involuntary bumping. According to the Department of Transportation, you’re entitled to 400% of your ticket price, up to $1,550. While that will buy a nice dinner in Paris, it’s still a massive inconvenience. What can the airline can do to sweeten the deal?
How it Happens
Involuntary bumping often happens when airlines overestimate the amount of no-shows on their flights. When a flight becomes overbooked, passengers may be asked to board a different flight. If no one volunteers to get on a different flight, the airline will bump passengers involuntarily.
The Fine Print
Most travelers are unaware of their airline passenger rights, and airlines aren’t keen on advertising those rules. There are some important details to know. Airlines aren’t obliged to compensate you when there’s a change of aircraft, weight and balance issues, a downgrade, a switch to a charter flight, or for any flight that doesn’t depart from the US. But in general, as a passenger, you’re entitled to four times the ticket price in compensation for a delay of more than two hours.
In case you were calculating excitedly that your $10,000 first-class ticket will get you $40,000, we’re sorry to bring bad tidings. The maximum amount of compensation per incident is $1,550. In most cases, flyers will be entitled to some financial benefit. In your case, you may miss your Friday night drinks, but you’ll pocket enough to treat yourself to dinner in Paris.
Now it Comes Down to the Airlines
If you’re involuntarily bumped, there may be relatively little you’re legally entitled to. For those who purchase first-class or business-class tickets for international flights, the Department of Transportation may only guarantee a fraction of what your ticket is worth. And combined with an interruption to your schedule, you may be shortchanged quite a bit, especially if you also booked a hotel or stay. But if you know how to ask for more, all is not lost.
Cash or Credit
Where it becomes important to know your airline passenger rights is in the kind of compensation you request. If you are offered a voucher, you can ask for cash, which may in turn cause the airline to increase its offer in credit or voucher. One passenger negotiated a $10,000 voucher from United Airlines after she was involuntarily bumped off of her flight.
However, it’s smart to think about which compensation you’re taking. In some cases, the cash amount might be lower, but check the fine print. Many vouchers and credits expire or come with blackout restrictions. However, if you get rebooked for another flight within the day, well… food vouchers can be useful at the airport.
Social Media and Airline Passenger Rights
Social media has your back. If you think you’re not being offered what you should be, don’t be afraid to document your experience on social media. Don’t record the gate agents, but be clear to them that you are capturing and live-tweeting your experience. An airlines doesn’t want people to know when it bumps passengers, because the inconvenience is its fault, and its responsibility to fix.
Anecdotally, Galavante founder Christine is a Diamond Miler. She was bumped from her business class seat on the way to Israel a few years ago. The airline issued her a boarding pass, but it wasn’t to be. Gate personnel stopped her and said there’d been a mistake, and they needed her seat for an extra pilot. Their offer was a coach seat or a seat on the flight the next day. And no, they didn’t offer her the $1,550; Christine receive a weak apology for the inconvenience.
The airline reps changed their tune when she started to film herself and live-tweet the situation. The gate agent got on the phone with a supervisor. Soon, the staff offered $1,500 in compensation, but Christine knew her airliner passenger rights and told them $5,000 was her price, plus her original business class seat the next day. Within 15 minutes, the deal was done, and she received five grand worth of American Express gift vouchers.
Bottom line: know your airline passenger rights and always ask for what you think is fair. You might be offered cash or vouchers , including for lodging and transportation. If you are inconvenienced, the airline should do what it can to make you whole and give you something extra for your trouble.
